Sad to hear....the reality?

That's so true! Any job will eventually become monatanous....hell my dad loved electrical and nuclear engineering. He got his dream job, but after putting in 30 years, he had to "get out of this and retire." I guess it's better to pursue what you love, do it, and start to feel a bit bored then to do something that you don't feel passionate about and get sick of.
 
The bottom line here is that ANY job now is highly competitive. I know quite a few people in construction working and they say all the time how competitive that is getting. Everyone these days has a college degree, masters, not too many people have phd's but still you have to have something that sets you apart from the crowd which for aviation seems to be hours and enthusiasm.

When I started becoming interested in aviation as a career choice i made sure to get both sides of the story i listened to the "glass is half empty" crowd and the more optomistic crowd. After this i was still convinced that no matter what (short of an untimely death) i will fly for a living as of now i have to pay to go flying but im still flying and still following my dream, which is what is wrong with alot of young people today they don't do what they want to do.

So many people i know of wind up "settling" for a career ie. working for daddy's company, or getting a job that is literally handed to them. Another trap is temporary jobs, people will work at one job just temporarily and then slowly get sucked in an forget their dreams and wake up one day realizing that they are stuck because they have a family and lots of bills and can't afford a career change.

Anyway back to the original point, if you enjoy flying for a living then you've got it made. It's all about how you perceive things. I know that I am not gonna have it easy for the next few years as far as training and eventually getting a pilot job but everyone pays the dues. Remember this it works if you work it!
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Sorry if that was alot of ranting but I am very passionate about flying and hate to see people get discouraged about flying.

Happy Flying!!
Ryan
 
[rant]
<disclaimer: this rant is general in nature and is not in reference to any particular post...>

I would prefer that every up-and-coming pilot get a good reality check before they get into this line of work. It isn't easy, it is often not fun, and the politics and b.s. of the job will get old.

I'd rather people realize the issues up front, then if they still want to go for it, that's great.

The last thing I want is to spend hours in a cramped cockpit with some former stars-in-the-eyes dreamer that has had a gut-check by the reality of the job. I don't need his b*tching and complaining.

Know what you're getting into (it ain't pretty or glamorous or dreamy), then do it because you love flying and will put up with the crap with a smile on your face.

Don't get into this trade for the money. Or the *easy* schedule. Or the glamour. Or the prestige. If you do, you will be disappointed, and I don't want to hear your complaints!

[/rant]
 
I try not to rain on anyone's dreams here and sometimes I find myself biting my tongue as I read some of the naive post from those who believe their career will happen exactly as they've planned it and on a certain time schedule with very little leeway for unforecast disappointments.

I have been, like many here, that same starry-eyed kid with big dreams of flying the heavy iron all around the world and the perceived "perks" that go along with it. I'm one of the very lucky ones here who have achieved every aviation goal I set out to accomplish since I was only 7 years old. Many of my dreams as a kid were based on fantasies rather than realities. Doesn't matter though, they were real to me.

As I grew older and understood a little more, I heard many of the same negatives associated with becoming an airline pilot as many of you hear today. Airline names and people have changed over the years but many of the same problems remain within the industry and probably always will. The young have a way of blocking out negatives or obstacles or fears that come with age and experience. I was certainly guilty of that and it helped me persevere through the tough times while I was pursuing my career. I'm not 10 feet tall and bullet-proof anymore like I was 20 years ago.

One of the things I discovered was that there are a lot of good people who don't make it in aviation through no fault of their own. It's just bad luck or timing. I think about how incredibly lucky and blessed I've been and how just a slight change of timing or luck may have completely changed the outcome of my career. I've always believed that good preparation can influence one's luck. However, bad luck can destroy good preparation. I can't emphasize enough the importance of good olé fashion luck and timing when it comes to a career in aviation.

As lucky as I've been in aviation and to be sitting where I'm at, there are times when the thought of packing another bag and leaving my family for the ump-teenth time on another trip is enough to make anyone rethink their career choice. The thought of yet another 6 month recurrent training event, 6 month 1st class physical, FAA or company line check, TSA hassles, upcoming contract negotiations or simply missing an important family function and seeing the hurt in my little girl's eyes takes that glowing shine off the aviation apple. 35,000ft at 3am and 1000 miles from home on Xmas or your daughter's birthday is a miserable experience. It's certainly not the worst thing in the world..it just feels like it at the time.

I can hear the young folks now... "If you can't handle, or don't like the job, then leave! I'll be more than happy to take your place". You know what, I use to say the same thing when I was first starting out. All I thought about was this fantasy world in my head about flying airplanes..big ones! Elvis Presley once said, "Fantasy and reality are two different things and it's very hard to live up to the fantasy".

It's not that I don't enjoy flying airplanes anymore because I do. I enjoy trying to perfect something you can never truly perfect no matter how much you practice. It's like playing golf. I enjoy being good at something not a lot of people do. The problem is that the everyday pressures and distractions that surround the job sometimes begin to cloud the reason you got into this profession in the first place. And you will never truly understand what those pressures and distractions are until you've spent some time in the industry. They just don't exist when you're a young aspiring student pilot just beginning your flight training with dreams of an airline or professional pilot career. I didn't understand them then, nor did I care. I do now and I suspect that UA Capt did to.


Having said all that, I can't think of anything else I'd rather being doing as a career other than what I'm doing. Strange, huh? It's just that it's not the pure bed of roses I had envisioned or fantasized about as a kid, but then again, every career choice has it's hidden thorns. What you have to decide is do you make yourself and everyone around you miserable by concentrating on the thorns (negatives) following your dream or do you find the positives in this career by concentrating on the roses? (positives).
 
You have to take the negatives in stride. I've had nearly half of my students so far this week cancel or no-show without calling. It doesn't hinder my enthusiasim....I simply look for someone around the airport to go up and split some hood time with. Yeah, the money is getting tight but I figure my paycheck can't get much smaller than it is now. Nowhere to go but up.
 
Lots of angst in all these posts...it seems one must trudge through the mud part of every job to enjoy the waterfall of rainbows and happiness, however brief each may be. Frankly, I think the contrast is what keeps us going. I've been lucky to change careers several times so far, and each has been both boring and fantastic, in their own time. Now my work happiness is fed by aviation, which has been a private hobby for a long while, and I feel lucky to be paid for what I do: instruct and fly. Given my past history, I may find another thing or two to do, but right now I am concentrating on being the one that is the most "there," and happy that this is shared with many others. It just seems that people in aviation are more interesting to know right now than any other regime, so I plan to enjoy it while I can. Care to tag along?
 
Yes that is sad to hear but it is not the reality. It is within no one's right to tell you what to do. I get so sick of people who have bad experiences with something and then try to deter people from doing it. I see it so much with people telling students, "oh, don't train at Embry-Riddle, their flight program is too expensive", or "Don't become a pilot, become something else like a Doctor or a Lawyer" or ..... Like someone else said in this Forum, becoming a Doctor or Lawyer have their ups and downs as well. Don't become something because of the money or because someone tells you to. Do what you love for the raw passion that you have for it. Yes there are challenges in everything. The challenges that are present should entice people and not discourage them. At the end of the day, when you have made it to where you want to be, the story is much more exciting to tell. The Economy isn't the best right now. Pilots are not the only ones that suffer when an airline goes bad; they hire many people and many people also invest in them. Plus, the airline industry is not all that is suffering. Some people went into computers and are out of Jobs now because of a downturn in that industry. What do you tell that person. "Oh, you should have become something else and wrote programs or designed websites on the side?" I do not know about anyone else but I would rather experience a downturn in an industry that I love being in, instead of in one that I was forced into. Determine your dreams and pursue them and don't let a disgrunt United Captian steer YOUR ship. If he did deter you, you may have not had the passion to make it to the top in the first place.
 
A300Capt, points all taken. I suppose as one of those "young and aspiring pilots," I tend to forget at times the reality of the industry itself. All I can see are the four stripes, the left seat, and the shiny 747 parked at the gate. When you want something so badly sometimes you neglect the realities of the world around you. I guess one has to take the good with the bad eh?
 
FutureLeader,
Rest assured I still have the passion (always have and always will). I still get the same feeling I got when I was 4 when a plane takes off in front of me. The most bitter and disgruntled captain couldn't take that away from me
grin.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Rest assured I still have the passion (always have and always will).

[/ QUOTE ]

We all have a passion for flying airplanes, but not all of us have a passion for dealing with BS that is slung at us by the airlines. I can tell you personally that I havn't flown since July and it's really driving me up the wall. The closest thing I've had to flying a plane in the last 9 months has been sitting in EatSleepFly's King Air left seat for a few minutes. So at this point, I'd give anything to go flying. But, it's been said more than once that major airline pilots fly for free; they get paid to deal with all the crap that comes along with the job.

I used to think that all I wanted to do was fly 777's for United on international routes. I'd do anything to get to that spot. That prospect does not sound as amazing anymore after meeting the girl of my dreams, being that I like to spend time with her and all. Being home as much as I can while flying seems a lot more appealing than flying cool equipment.

It's not all about the airplanes, a lot of it has to do with the lifestyle.

Cheers


John Herreshoff
 
unfortunately every job becomes just a job after a while. Inherently flying is a passion that many people share. However the passion burns after flying the same routes day after day week after week etc doing the exact same procedures. Right now im excited because im starting a new job. However I was way sick of instructing toward the end because it was the same old things. Fly XXX transition ok now steep turns, now stalls, now some holding, now approaches etc. etc. I got my job and its something new and unknown. Its a new challenge. Without new challenges in our lives things quickly get boring and I think thats what happens with aviation. Once you have done a certain thing for a while you need a new challenge to stimulate yourself otherwise you get the dreaded "burnout". Fear not though its a lot better getting burned out at something you love to do than something you hate to do.
 
I say to all the unhappy professional pilots out there if you dislike your current job so much retire. A fresh new crop of enthused job seekers could take your spot and you can be free to persue any profession you see fit.

I know the industry is changing everyday, I know the moral of the airline pilots are down, and I know it wont be as easy for me as it was for you, but don't trash me because I want to have a flying career.
 
I don't think anyone is trashing those that want to fly for a career.

I do find it sad that you all are getting so worked up over hearing about what its really like. I guess the truth hurts.

Then again, I really have little or no interest in flying for the airlines, so I guess I've already prepared myself for a long, hard road to where ever it is that I end up.

And this, by the way:

[ QUOTE ]
It's not all about the airplanes, a lot of it has to do with the lifestyle.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is SO true. Well said, John. I think thats the factor that students and pilot hopefuls are missing and that the guys that have been-there-done-that know all too well.
 
Who cares how much money your making, or how easy your job is if you hate going to work in the morning.

Id rather Fly then anything else, regardless!

Aussie
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I can hear the young folks now... "If you can't handle, or don't like the job, then leave! I'll be more than happy to take your place". You know what, I use to say the same thing when I was first starting out.

[/ QUOTE ]I say to all the unhappy professional pilots out there if you dislike your current job so much retire. A fresh new crop of enthused job seekers could take your spot and you can be free to persue any profession you see fit.

[/ QUOTE ]

smirk.gif
 
I am reading some of these post and it is very interesting. In quoting EatSleepFly, " I do find it sad that you all are getting so worked up over hearing about what its really like. I guess the truth hurts." From what the original post mentioned, No Where did the United Captain detail the reality of the Industry to this young aspiring pilot. He clearly told him to become something esle instead of becoming an airline pilot. I have no problem in hearing about the reality of the industry, that truth does not hurt me. The problem I have is in people telling others to strive for everything esle but their DREAMS. EatSleepFly, you also mentioned that you have no interest in becoming an airline pilot, that is great, we all have different DREAMS.
 
It really does make you think when you hear something like that.

After a recent flight on a USAIRWAYS A321 I went up to the cockpit. I talked to the First Officer. I told him I wanted to become a pilot...


"I was just like you, I would have even sold my grandma to fly. But I tell you, you better like being miserable. I've lost numerous girlfriends and I am always away from home. I'm actually dropping my job next month, I'm starting an internet trading company. You should do that, become an entreprenuer, it's a good thing to get into."

I was happy he showed me the cockpit after, but after the experience, I felt horrible. I toughened up and said I'll be what I want to be in life, ain't no one going to change that.
 
I don't know if he should have been THAT negative, but I do teach people - It's Not for EVERYBODY!

The trick is to find out whether it's for you sooner than later.
 
Another thing to stress here guys is that things change. You might think that you want to go after the airline cockpit like gangbusters and that nothing is going to stop you. If that's what you want, then that's great. But don't be supprised when your priorities in life change. I'll use myself as an example again.

I went to Western Michigan University to study aviation because it was one of the best aviation program's in the country. I was bent on going to UND for a long time, but my parents wouldn't let me leave the state for my first two years of college. I figured I wasn't missing out on too much going to Western. The programs are of similar size, and the training should be on par. Our first week here went like this: The Dean of the College of Aviation welcomed us to Western, told us the economy was great (this was Fall of 2001 when I was a freshman, see where this one is going yet?) and that within a few years of graduation we'd all be flying 747's for United. Guess what happened three weeks later? That's right boys, the bottom dropped out and having a degree in aviation flight science didn't seem all that appealing when people were loosing their jobs like mad. Within a semester I was out of the flight science program and into the managment program. Within a year I was out of the college of aviation all together. Know what I'm studying now? Philosophy. If someone told me when I was younger that I would switch majors in college 4 times and finally settle on philosophy I would have laughed at them outright. The moral of the story?

Things change. Don't be too supprised when they do. I can name you numerous people who have changed their majors from one unrelated thing to another and enjoy what they are doing right now a heck of a lot more than what they used to be doing. You might think that the only thing for you us the cockpit of a 747, but don't be too supprised when things change after a few years. It's not bad, it's just how things go. Just be mature enough to accept that change like that is normal.

Cheers


John Herreshoff
 
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